9 Reasons to Have Hope—No Matter What

 blog.kcm.org/9-reasons-hope-no-matter/

By KCM

If you’ve lost hope and can’t find a reason to ever hope again, here are 9 Reasons to Have Hope—No Matter What!

“I hope I get this new job.”

“I hope I will be healed soon.”

“I hope my children will follow the Lord.”

Maybe you’ve uttered words like these without really believing they will come to pass. So often, expressions of hope are laced with discouragement and doubt, especially in the face of overwhelming loss, repeated failures and betrayals of trust.
No matter how serious your circumstances, they are subject to change, and you can have hope. If you are going through hard times financially, in desperate need to move to a safer neighborhood, or needing a miracle in your marriage, it can all turn around—you can have hope.

If you have become weary and need a fresh Word from heaven, here are nine powerful reasons to have hope—no matter what.

1. Hope Is a Force That Overcomes

“Every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. –1 John 5: 4-5

At this very moment, if you’ve been born again, you have residing on the inside of you three of the greatest forces ever created. These forces have the power to help you overcome any circumstance and change anything in your life.

What are these three forces? Faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

These forces are inseparable, and together they have the power to put you on top.  But getting your hopes up is the key to putting faith and love to work in your life. To put it simply: If you’ll get your hopes up, everything can get better. Faith, hope and love are the answers you need today for anything you’re facing. Don’t be afraid—get your hopes up!

2. Hope Is Already in You

“At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” –Ephesians 2:12, NKJV

Most people understand how crucial faith and love are, but few understand the importance of hope. They’ve never realized that faith and love can’t function effectively without hope.

Regardless of what you feel hopeless about, the truth remains: You do have hope if you have God! So, don’t go by what you feel. Go by what God says about you and your situation in His Word. Then, by faith say, “Thank God, I have hope.”

Hopelessness is not caused by a lack of education, a lack of money or a lack of opportunity. Hopelessness comes from being without hope and without God in the world. So, if you have God, you have hope. But, like anything else, you have to feed your hope with the Word of God.

3. Hope Isn’t a Wish

“According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether  by life or by death.” –Philippians 1:20, NKJV



Real Bible hope is not “wishing.” That’s worldly hope. People in the world say, “I hope I get a raise at work,” when what they mean is, “I want a raise. I don’t think I’ll get it…but it would be nice if I did.”

The kind of hope described in the Word of God is much stronger than that because it’s not based on wishing or wanting. It is based on your covenant with God and the anointing He has provided to carry out that covenant in your life.

4. Hope Is Always at Work

“But if we HOPE for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” –Romans 8:25, NIV
The powerful force of hope is a supernatural expectancy. But, keep in mind, you can expect something good or bad. Either way, you’re operating in the powerful force of hope. When you expect something good, you’re operating in hope that comes from the truth of God’s Word. When you are expecting something bad or negative, you’re operating in natural hope or even evil hope.

Supernatural hope knows what God has provided and expects it with eager confidence.

5. Gospel Hope Always Wins

“Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham KEPT HOPING.” –Romans 4:18

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations when Abraham was 100 years old and childless. All the hope he could see in the natural realm was negative. It was working against him. At his age, the only hope he had was of dying. He likely faced thoughts of doubt and natural opposition to God’s idea. But he combated those thoughts, and made a decision to operate in gospel hope instead. He had to choose between natural hope and gospel hope. He knew that gospel hope always wins—and it did!

6. Gospel Hope Is NOW

“NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for….” –Hebrews 11:1, KJV

How do you know if you’re operating in gospel hope? Listen to your words. If you’re facing financial struggles, natural hope says, “I hope I’ll be able to pay my bills,” but supernatural gospel hope says, “My bills are paid, glory to God, because God’s Word says all my needs are met according to His riches in glory!” (Philippians 4:19).

Natural hope is always in the future. It’s always tomorrow or the next day: “Well, I know God will heal me if He wants to.” But supernatural hope is always right now: “I’m already healed because by His stripes I was healed!” That’s faith.

Faith always says, “Now.” If faith is now, when is hope? Hope is now, too.

7. Hope Is the Blueprint of Faith

“Faith is the substance of things Hoped for….” –Hebrews 11:1, KJV

Just as the Bible is the blueprint for Christian living, hope is the blueprint of faith. Faith has to have hope to work. Hope has to have faith to produce.

Hope gives you the picture of what God wants for you through the Word of God. Then, faith takes that idea and goes after it. That is how hope and faith work together. Hope is the plan that faith sets out to accomplish. It’s the goal setter.

8. Hope Always Sees

“…the evidence of things not seen.” –Hebrews 11:1, KJV

The unseen things mentioned in Hebrews 11:1 are things seen with the eyes of hope. Hope always sees before the natural eye can. Some people have trouble focusing on those unseen things. They’re hung up on what their natural eyes see instead. After all,they reason, that’s reality.

How can you see through the eyes of hope? By renewing your mind—read, study and meditate on the Word of God. Pray and listen to the Holy Spirit. That is how we get ourselves out of the natural realm and step into the supernatural, where truth resides.

9. Hope Anchors Your Life

“This HOPE is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.” —Hebrews 6:19

When a ship is tossed about by the waves and wind of the sea, it relies on one thing—the anchor. An anchor keeps the ship steady—firmly in place. That’s what hope does for you while you’re standing in faith. Maybe you’re believing for something, but the circumstances of life leave you feeling tossed about. Hope is your anchor.

You can’t drift around in hopelessness and live in victory. You have to get in the place of faith and stay there. You have to be stable in hope.

In conclusion, you already have everything you need to have real Bible hope. When you face struggles or disappointments, remember that hope is a force that is already in you, it isn’t a wish, it always works, it always wins, it’s now, it’s your blueprint, it always sees and it is an anchor. Hope will fuel your faith and take you to a place of victory through Christ Jesus. His promises are His will for YOU. So, no matter what, don’t give up—get your hopes up!

Subscribe to Kenneth Copeland’s 25 Days of Christmas Hope Devotion at www.kcm.org/25Days.
For more on living in the God kind of hope and to open your FREE Christmas gifts from KCM, go to www.kcm.org/25Days.

CHOOSE LIFE

Topic: CHOOSE LIFE
Text: Matthew. 19: 16-26
Aim: to understand to enter life is to learn at the feet of Christ
INTRODUCTION
"...what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" this seems like a life-changing question every young one must ask him/her self, if any good life will be lived. Yet many has failed to have this ' eternal life' even after answering this question!
To 'do' good is not the issue,since the forbidden fruit of good and evil flows in man's system, there is no good thing man can do to earn eternal life. ( Ge. 6:3,5 8:21 John 17:9 )
But, John 3:15 declares " that whoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life". The issue is now who do we believe? Every young one has within a urge to do anything or whatever thing that crosses their path ( Matthew 7:13), but ' good life' we desired is first learned and then practised when one has firstly followed Christ.
EXPOSITION
A. Definition
¤ What does it mean to be young?
  A youth
It is a period of time from infancy to late adulthood
It is a mind set that possesses strength
It is all about strength, vibrant -untapped potential
It is a future - potent of anything
¤ What is eternal life
Ge. 2:7,9 6:3,6 John 3:15,36 17:2-3
Eternal life is the life of God revealed in Jesus Christ. John 1:4 5:26
Eternal life is that life that makes man to be in God's class.
It is imparted when we receives the Holy Spirit. Joel 2:
   Discuss why do we need eternal life?

B.   "...but if thou we enter into life..."
  To enter life is a choice! ( Duet 30:19 John 3:16)
    a) "... keep the commandments..."
Proverb 4:1-4 Exodus 20:1-17 Luke 18:20 Matthew 19:18
While we are still young all we need mostly is God's knowledge . Moses gave 10 commandments but Jesus stated 5 in Luke and 6 in Matthew. Read the scripture and discuss the commandments how it relates to the young today.
  b) "... what lack I yet..." vs 20
The young man truly desired 'LIFE' having passed himself good mark from exams Jesus "... all these things have I kept from my youth up..." this request show a desire to quit struggling life to become something as a young man. "...for by strength shall no man prevail " 1 Samuel 2:9
How can you measure up your life, O young man?
Think about: what have you being doing with your youth?

C.   '...if thou wilt be perfect...'
The use of 'if' second time by Jesus placed emphasis on choice of life. Matthew 7: 13,14
"...go and sell.." implies end the struggling life to become something (Luke 12:15)
Isaiah 40: 29-31 described the life of a young man with their strength to become someone scripture said they failed but only those that "...wait upon the LORD..."
Philippians 2:13 (Hebrew 13:21) to become something in this life with joy, peace and righteousness is to follow Christ.
Conclusion
The most difficult for any young man to do despite desire of life, is to follow as we can see from our text. "...he went away sorrowful..." that is he chose to continue to struggle for life under devil's operation in this world. What will be your account of your youth after all the exploits of the youth exuberant will it not be sorrowful. Choose to follow Christ so the life you will life will be described in joy peace and righteousness

Who/What I Am in Christ

Who/What I Am in Christ 

• I am reigning in life by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17)
• I am not looking at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen (II Corinthians 4:18) • I am walking by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7)
• I am casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God   (II Corinthians 10:5)
• I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:21)
• I am rooted and grounded in love, because Christ dwells within me (Ephesians 3:17)
• I am the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10)
• I am a partaker of God's divine nature (II Peter 1:4)
• I am prosperous and in good health, because my soul prospers (III John 2)
• I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind to prove the perfect will of God (Romans 12:2) • I am healed by the stripes of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:24)
• I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37)
• I am the salt of the earth, and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13a, 14a)
• I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)
• I am strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10)
• I am taking the shield of faith and quenching all of the fiery darts of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16)
• I am praying my desires and receiving them (Mark 11:24)
• I am like a tree planted by the rivers of water and everything that I do prospers (Psalm 1:3) • I am a      temple of the Holy Ghost (I Corinthians 6:19)
• I am given exceeding great and precious promises, and by them I partake of the divine nature,        having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (II Peter 1:4)
• I am led by the spirit of God; therefore, I am a son of God (Romans 8:14)
• I am not walking after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1)
• I am receiving all of my needs met according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)
• I am casting all of my cares upon Him, because I know He cares for me (I Peter 5:7)
• I am blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3)
• I am blessed when I come in, and blessed when I go out (Deuteronomy 28:6)
• I am an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17)
• I am increasing and abounding in love (I Thessalonians 3:12)
• I am being made perfect in every good work to do God's will (Hebrews 13:21)
• I am showing forth the praise of God (Psalms 51:15)  

Prevailing Prayer Part 2

TRIUMPHING IN CHRIST

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish.” (2Corinthians 2:14-15). We triumph in Christ each time we celebrate His victory in the face of opposition and stand firm in the liberty Christ gave us. Difficult situations and obstacles will come but holding firm the promises of God shows our unwavering faith. This kind of faith is required to show forth His power and victory over all. When we go through tests, it’s time to show our knowledge of the ways of God. How would God handle the circumstance? What will Jesus do? God wants us to always apply the knowledge of His Word irrespective of who is involved. Our resolve to be ambassadors of the gospel will draw people to Jesus. Scripture says “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habbakuk 2:14).

Rejoicing in God’s promises is one key way to access His triumphant grace. He wants us to lead our lives in such a way that Christ will be seen in all that we do. We are the Bible people see, read and observe everywhere. Stir up the Spirit of God in your environment. Let people hunger for more of God once they relate with you. In Greek culture and history, triumph is the intense celebration that happens after battle. And God also expects you to triumph- to intensely celebrate your victory even when you are faced with difficult situations. When you celebrate over an issue, God equips you with all you need to physical surmount the hurdles. Celebrate God’s capacity to make you triumph! The Bible says our faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith is the believer’s voice of victory. Declare your faith in intense triumph before God! You won’t be defeated. You have the voice of total victory.

Pastor ‘Poju Oyemade

Creflo Dollar Sermons 2017- WAFBEC 2017 - Day 3

Pentecost--The Full Blessing of the Spirit 01

Acts 2:1  And as the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled,
they were all together in the same place. (4) And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit...
Leviticus 23:10 ...you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits
of your harvest to the priest; (15) And you shall count for
yourselves...from the day that you brought the sheaf... (16)
You shall count fifty days until the day after the seventh
Sabbath; then you shall present a new meal offering to
Jehovah [the feast of Harvest].
 
The word "Pentecost" means fiftieth. It was the fiftieth day
from the Lord's resurrection, seven weeks in between,
counting from the second day after the Passover on which the
Lord was crucified. It was the fulfillment of the feast of
Weeks (Deut. 16:10), which was also called the feast of
Harvest, counting from the day of offering a sheaf of the
firstfruits of the harvest unto the morrow after the seventh
Sabbath. The offering of a sheaf of the firstfruits was a
type of the resurrected Christ offered to God on the day of
His resurrection [1 Cor. 15:20].

The offering of Christ as the firstfruit in resurrection
involves His secret ascension to the Father. When Mary
wanted to touch Him, He said to her, "Do not touch Me, for I
have not yet ascended to the Father..." (John 20:17). On the
day of His resurrection the Lord ascended to the Father.
This was a secret ascension, forty days prior to His public
ascension in the sight of His disciples. On the day of
resurrection, early in the morning, He ascended to satisfy
the Father. The freshness of His resurrection was first for
the Father's enjoyment, as the firstfruit of the harvest was
brought first to God in type. On the day of His resurrection
the Lord went to the heavens to offer Himself as the
firstfruit of God's harvest for the satisfaction of God the
Father. That was a secret ascension. The day of Pentecost
was fifty days later.

Commit an Act of Love

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” James 2:18-20, New King James Version Do you believe God loves you? Do you really, truly believe it? There’s only one way to know for sure. Look at your life and see if you are acting on that love. Something you genuinely believe, you’ll act on. For instance, if someone were to come into a crowded room and say, “The building is on fire!” everyone who believed it would immediately get out. Those who did not believe it would say things like, “I don’t smell any smoke. Do you smell any smoke?” They’d just sit there, waiting for their physical senses to tell them if what was said was true. Now let’s add another element to this illustration. Let’s say the person who came in and said “The building is on fire!” was a fireman. Now with that added to it, it would really be foolish not to act on his word because he knows what he’s talking about. That’s the position you and I are in today. God—who definitely knows what He is talking about—has said that He loves us. Most of us have mentally agreed. If someone asks us, we tell them, “Oh yes, I know God loves me.” But most of us haven’t done much about it. We’re still just sitting there, waiting for further evidence of that truth. That evidence won’t come until we get up and do something! Why? Because just knowing God loves us isn’t enough. It’s acting on that knowledge that brings results! “What should I do?” you ask. First of all, open your mouth and say something. Start talking about how much God loves you. Instead of saying, “Gee, I hope this situation turns out all right,” say, “Praise God, I have confidence this situation is going to turn out all right, because my Father loves me and perfects that which concerns me” (Psalm 138:8). Use every opportunity to confess your faith in God’s love for you. Second, start acting on God’s WORD. When you read, for example, that as a believer you can lay hands on the sick and they’ll recover, don’t shrink back in fear. Don’t sit around wondering what will happen if you lay hands on someone and they don’t get well. Get up and get after it, believing God loves you enough to back you up. The minute you do that, God’s love will suddenly become more than a religious concept to you…it will become a reality. That’s when you’ll begin to see what the power of love can do.

Love Values People

“Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10, New King James Version Who is your neighbor? Your neighbor is the person who is near to you at the moment. When you’re standing in line at the ballgame, your neighbor is the man standing in front of you whom you elbowed out of the way to get a better seat. When you’re waiting for a parking place at the grocery store, your neighbor is the person in the car who swerved around you and took the place you’d been waiting for. The Bible says love does no harm to those people. Love is considerate of them. Love is sensitive to them. That sounds simple enough. But the fact is, before we can be considerate of someone and sensitive to them, we have to be aware that they exist. We have to be spiritually alert enough to notice them. To do that, we have to get our minds renewed because our culture has trained us to be so self-centered, we don’t even see each other. It’s amazing. People will notice things before they’ll notice other people. They’ll admire an expensive car and never even see the person driving it. They’ll appreciate buildings, clothes and jewelry, and ignore the people in them as if they’re totally insignificant. But when we fall into that, we’re being deceived. People are far more important than things. Never use people to get things. Use things to BLESS and show God’s love to people. The only way we can be sure not to do any harm to our neighbor is to value people enough to notice them. We must esteem others as much as we do ourselves. We must see them as being more important than things. We should never treat someone poorly over a seat at the ballgame or a parking place. But we’ll do it inadvertently if we don’t renew our minds and exercise our awareness of them. That’s why walking in love requires us to cultivate our consciousness of the impact our words and actions have on the people around us. If we hurt someone’s feelings because we spoke harshly to them (or didn’t speak to them at all), we can’t excuse ourselves by saying, “Hey, I didn’t even realize I offended them,” or “I was thinking about something else and didn’t notice they were standing there.” That won’t fly because if we’re walking in love, we won’t be that self-absorbed. We’ll see the pain flash across that person’s face when we’re abrupt with them. We’ll consider them more important than our own thoughts and acknowledge them when we walk by. Love gives us a heightened awareness of others that keeps us from carelessly neglecting them. It ensures we do our neighbor no harm.  From Love Revolution by Kenneth Copland

Love: A Debt You Owe

“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8, New King James Version Because God loves us, we owe love to every person we meet. We owe them kindness and gentleness. We owe it to them to treat them with dignity and respect, as valuable to God and to His plan in the earth. Sadly enough, we don’t always do that. At times, people act like the Christians mentioned in James 2, and give better treatment to people who wear fine clothes and expensive jewelry, than they give to those who don’t have much wealth or social status. They violate the law of love and fail to give others what they are owed. As a result, they are often robbed of THE BLESSING and favor of God. One might pray diligently for God to help in a situation, standing on The WORD and confessing we walk in the favor of God. But selfish actions and unloving ways will thwart the answer to our own prayers. We’ll reverse that favor before we receive it. I have a friend who told me about a time he and his wife were stranded in an airport with a multitude of other people. While they were waiting in line to be booked for another flight, they prayed and agreed for God’s help and favor. From the looks of the man behind the ticket counter, they knew they’d need it. His eyes were bloodshot. His hair was sticking out in every direction. He was irritable and tired. When the lady standing in front of them was rude to him, he just shrugged his shoulders and said all the flights were booked. He didn’t do anything to help. When my friend and his wife got to the counter however, they were kind. They didn’t put any pressure on the man. On the contrary, they tried to minister peace to him, treating him with consideration and respect. “We realize you’re very busy,” they said. “We can see this is a madhouse and you have a lot of problems on your hands…but this is our situation. Can you do anything for us?” Amazingly enough, the ticket agent stepped around the counter and said, “Follow me.” He took my friends to another area, booked them first-class seats and shook their hands. He even acknowledged that he could have helped the lady ahead of them. But because of how she acted, he didn’t do it. That’s a good example of what can happen when you pay the debt of love you owe. It can open the way for God to get you where you’re going. When others find themselves stranded by strife, your faith working by love will not only keep you flying…it will secure you a first-class seat! -From Love Revolution by Kenneth Copland

Love and Pride Cannot Coexist

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6, New King James Version The devil is so determined to undermine your love walk that if he can’t trip you up one way, he’ll sneak around the back door and trip you up another way. You always have to be watching for him. You can never drop your guard! If he can’t draw you out of love with envy or strife, for instance, he’ll get you to think about how well you’ve been doing. Since Satan is a liar, he can go to either extreme—whatever he thinks will work on you. He’ll remind you of all the offenses you’ve overlooked lately. Before you know it, you’ll be silently extolling your own virtues. I’ve done so wonderfully this week. I’ve held my temper. I’ve refused to be touchy. I’m so proud of myself for walking in love! Do you know what will happen next? You’ll fall flat on your face. You’ll do or say something so unloving it will shock you. Why? Because what the Bible says is true. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18, New International Version). Pride is defined as “an over-high opinion of one’s self; exaggerated self-esteem or conceit, haughtiness or arrogance; self-esteem arising from one’s accomplishments or possessions; an exaggerated idea of one’s own dignity or importance.” That’s just the dictionary definition and it’s bad enough. But the Bible goes even further in its description of pride by identifying it as one of the seven things that God hates. Proverbs 6:16-17 calls it an abomination to Him. Don’t let yourself fall into it. When you’re tempted to think about how wonderful you are and how much progress you’re making in your walk of love, think instead about the One who gave you the strength to do it. Stop considering yourself and consider Jesus, the One who loved you so much He shed His blood and paid the price for your sin. Remember how selfish you were before He redeemed you, and how selfish you would still be except for His grace. Pride will quickly give way to humility. Haughtiness will melt into gratitude. And you’ll take a step upward instead of taking a fall, as you give all the glory to Him. -From Love Revolution by Gloria Copland

The Meaning of Repentance

The Meaning of Repentance

Matt 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist appeared,
preaching in the wilderness of Judea (2) And saying, Repent,
for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.
 

The first significant word in [Matthew 3:2] is the word
"repent." John began his ministry with this word. To repent is
to have a change of mind issuing in regret, to have a turn in
purpose. In Greek the word translated repent means to have a
change of mind. To repent is to have a change in our thinking,
our philosophy, our logic....Before we were saved, we all were
under the direction of our fallen mentality. We were far away
from God, and our life was in direct opposition to His will.
Under the influence of our fallen mentality, we went farther
and farther astray from God. But one day we heard the
preaching of the gospel telling us to repent, to have a turn
in our thinking, philosophy, and logic.

This was just my experience when I was saved. I was like a
young horse running in my own direction. Actually I was not
taking my direction, but the Devil's direction, for the Devil
was directing me through my fallen mentality, driving me far
away from God. But one day I heard the call to repent--to have
a change in my philosophy, to have a change in my logic and
thought. Praise the Lord, I underwent a great change!...All
[believers] have made this kind of turn, which is called
conversion. When we were converted, we turned our back upon
our past and turned our face to God. This is what it means to
repent, to experience a change of our mind.

Baptism -- Termination and Germination

Baptism -- Termination and Germination

Matt 3:6 And they were baptized by [John] in the Jordan River
as they confessed their sins.
Rom 6:3 Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been
baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
(5) For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of
His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His
resurrection.

Matthew 3:5 and 6 reveal that many were baptized by [John] in
the Jordan River, confessing their sins. To baptize people is
to immerse them, to bury them in water, signifying death. John
the Baptist did this to indicate that anyone who repents is
good for nothing but burial. This also signifies the
termination of the old person, that a new beginning may be
realized in resurrection, to be brought in by Christ as the
life-giver. Hence, following John's ministry, Christ came.
John's baptism not only terminated those who repented, but
also ushered them to Christ for life. Baptism in the Bible
implies death and resurrection. To be baptized into the water
is to be put into death and buried. To be raised up from the
water means to be resurrected from death.

Whenever anyone repented in the presence of John the Baptist,
John put him into the water....By baptizing the repentant
ones, John indicated that they and all their past had to be
terminated and buried. Burial, however, was not the end,
because burial always brings in resurrection. Thus, on the one
hand, burial is termination, but on the other hand, it is also
germination. Those whom John terminated in baptism were to be
resurrected, not in him, but in the One who was to come after
him.